MG4 in Australia

[siteguru]

Since the V2L system will only supply about 15A max, I don't see how that would matter.

V2L will supply 7kW (well, 6.6kW), as tested by someone here. It's the resistor value that's built-in to the adapter that tells the car how much it can supply.

 

[Corindikev]

V2L will supply 7kW (well, 6.6kW), as tested by someone here. It's the resistor value that's built-in to the adapter that tells the car how much it can supply.

From my research that appears to be quite correct. Output gets close to 7kW when pushed. A couple of UK users tested this

MG4 rocking 7Kw V2L Real full home use possible.

I have only used my pressure washer so far & that only draws 1.9kW. The MG cable is restricted to 2.2kW and costs more than 6 times what I paid.

 

[Calm as]

I have 3phase power at my house so I am hoping to get a 22kw 32amp 3phase charger from Aliexpress... has anyone done this yet? Any suggestions on a model... there are heaps to choose from.

 

[Corindikev]

I would be wary of whether the Aliexpress chargers are certified for use in Australia. If it fails to meet Australian certification it will be illegal and no licenced electrician will install it.

The CJbeny is one of the best lower priced units and the brand is well known with a 3 year warranty. They also make chargers for Tesla. There are chargers for about $400 to $500 on Ebay from local suppliers usually unbranded but some are CE certified. MG chargers cost about $1200 and there are plenty of others from $800 up to $5000. The more expensive usually means better warranty and features such as OCPP and solar integration.

There is a good comparison table at
EV Charger Comparison : Compare Prices And Specifications

Also a 22kW charger is considered a fast charger and will not equalise the battery pack. If you get one then you will need to run it occasionally at 11kW to ensure battery equalisation occurs.

 

[siteguru]

A 3-phase capable MG4 won't charge at anything higher than 11kW (actually about 9.8kW) anyway ... the 22kW charge point is merely a power supply (akin to a wall socket); the charger is onboard and built into the car. So doing a balance charge is moot - the car will do it just fine via a 22kW capable charge point.

 

[neerav]

I tested the Aussie MG4 Essence 64 at 2 different public AC chargers to see if it was capable of advertised Single Phase 6.6kW maximum AC charging rate Australian MG4 Essence 64 2023: 6.6kW AC charging rate test & can owner set max charging limit with app? - Electrifying Everything

 

[Calm as]

funny I have read the specs heaps of times but I simply forget these things... although all the electric language is not to difficult to understand, there is way more information presented to you about your "fuel"... as apposed to deciding to put 91 octane in the car or don't have those beers and buy 98 octane, oh and don't put diesel in!

 

[wattmatters]

I tested the Aussie MG4 Essence 64 at 2 different public AC chargers to see if it was capable of advertised Single Phase 6.6kW maximum AC charging rate Australian MG4 Essence 64 2023: 6.6kW AC charging rate test & can owner set max charging limit with app? - Electrifying Everything

At home I definitely get the full AC charge rate. This was the other day:

The orange columns are the charging power demand (which adjust to match available solar PV capacity), while the white dots are the grid voltage on that phase. Can see the EV circuit was regularly drawing between 6.5-7 kW at peak.

Keeping grid voltage down during the day is one of the outcomes I am seeking from charging the EV. Adding load helps for that. Being at the end of a rural supply line we can see large voltage swings (a 30V variance is not unusual).

Yesterday I lowered the max charge rate to 20 A so the charging takes longer and can help over a longer portion of the solar production window. That capped the power draw to ~4.5 kW.

I think I can probably drop the charging rate a bit more for this purpose. We don't need a fully charged car all the time, and having a controllable load is very handy for us - and for that I need a partially charged car.

It's something I'd like to eventually set up some automations for. It's particularly an issue in Spring and parts of Autumn when PV output is good and the weather is mild (not much daytime demand). I already have my water heater performing this function on another phase.

 

[Corindikev]

It is easy to check the charging rate from the car while it is charging. I checked a few weeks ago and the battery was at about 20% & within a minute or so it was charging at 6.6kW from my single phase wall charger.

 

[wattmatters]

Some energy consumption numbers for reference.
Essence 64.

Did a 300km round trip today.

Mostly Pacific Highway Bellingen - Port Macquarie and return.
ECO mode on way down. NORMAL mode on return. Aircon on.

110km/h cruise control for most of it. A bit of local town driving.
Sitting in parked car adds to cumulative time.

Sunny, 25-28°C, not much wind.

Stats from car:
Started with 100% SOC.
Finished with 14% SOC.
17.6 kWh / 100km

So 86% used for 300km.
17.6 kWh/100km x 300km = 52.8 kWh
52.8/0.86 = 61.4 kWh (estimated actual capacity, if we are to believe the SOC reading).

Perhaps another 45-50 km range remaining.

I think I'll work on 300km being the effective highway range between stops. Gives a 40km buffer, although I expect I'd stop within 250 km for a recharge.

A far cry from the car proclaiming this at the start:

While I did not require a public DC fast charger, the lack of available options is disconcerting. At Port Macquarie only one of the four fast chargers is operational, and based on Plugshare sounds like it had a queue.

No Kempsey option (other than an AC charger with restricted hours and is closed on Mondays, so really it's Macksville (2) or the service centre near Nambucca (2).

 

[Agrajag]

A far cry from the car proclaiming this at the start

I believe it will calculate that based off your previous consumption, so if that has always been around town, it may be accurate for that, but not for a long highway drive. I think you're better off using something like ABRP (my dad has a niro and says it's extremely accurate for that) for trips like that - perhaps plug your trip in to ABRP and see what it estimates, would be interesting to know how close it comes.

 

[tsedge]

I believe it will calculate that based off your previous consumption, so if that has always been around town, it may be accurate for that, but not for a long highway drive. I think you're better off using something like ABRP (my dad has a niro and says it's extremely accurate for that) for trips like that - perhaps plug your trip in to ABRP and see what it estimates, would be interesting to know how close it comes.

ABRP is only accurate if you pair it with a ODB2 dongle to accurately track your consumption. Otherwise it is pretty inaccurate.

 

[Agrajag]

ABRP is only accurate if you pair it with a ODB2 dongle to accurately track your consumption. Otherwise it is pretty inaccurate.

How inaccurate are we talking? I would have thought it knows roads/speed limits, it also knows what car you have etc.
My dad definitely doesn't have an ODB2 dongle, he just puts in his destination before he leaves and says the % SOC it says when he gets somewhere is very very close.

 

[Calm as]

@wattmatters good information. Found the same on our trip and between Macksville and Port is a dead spot atm and I am not surprised (sorry I am from Kempsey so not shocked). Ours being a 51kwh unit I found a significant difference between sitting on 110km/h and dropping back to 100 - 105km/h the range extended noticeably. So much so I had to make a proclamation to the family that it was the first trip in my life that I drove under the speed limit in a vehicle that wasn't broken.

 

[tsedge]

How inaccurate are we talking? I would have thought it knows roads/speed limits, it also knows what car you have etc.
My dad definitely doesn't have an ODB2 dongle, he just puts in his destination before he leaves and says the % SOC it says when he gets somewhere is very very close.

It may be that he drives in a very consistent way which would help. Lots of people have reported ABRP being unrealistic without the dongle - generally too conservative.

You can adjust its assumptions but real world journeys depend on temperature, wind, elevation change, driving style etc... so the dongle makes a huge difference because ABRP will use real time data from the car - like a Tesla does.

 

[Agrajag]

I just tried his trip - it says 11% remaining, he had 14% - seems pretty good to me!

 

[tsedge]

I just tried his trip - it says 11% remaining, he had 14% - seems pretty good to me!

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Good for you - I am only repeating what I have heard and experienced (I have found it unrealistic too here in the UK). Maybe it does a better job in Australia, or maybe the terrain concerned is flat and consistent?

 

[Agrajag]

Maybe it does a better job in Australia, or maybe the terrain concerned is flat and consistent?

Who knows I haven't actually used it yet myself. Just reading some aussie forums, ABRP seems to have pretty great reviews. We'll have to collect some more data with MG4 and see

 

[PeteC]

I just tried his trip - it says 11% remaining, he had 14% - seems pretty good to me!

View attachment 21054

I have tried ABRP but only when planning a trip, not on a trip so have never checked it's % predictions against actual readings. Where I find ABRP not so good is when I'm planning a journey that needs charges along the way. It tends to err on the safe side and puts in more and/or earlier charge stops than are actually needed. That's better than leaving you short of charge, I guess. I tend to plan things 'manually' using zapmap and Google maps.

 

[Rolfe]

I found ABRP was quite close to correct when I did a 450-mile drive. However, slow restaurant service at my first (lunch) stop led to me leaving with a lot more charge than originally planned, so the rest of the estimates were obviously a bit out.